May Day protesters flood streets of Europe

By Oliver Joy and Gul Tuysuz, CNN

Updated 1144 GMT (1844 HKT) May 2, 2013

May Day protests around the world21 photos

In pictures: May Day protests around the world – Hundreds of supporters of Marine Le Pen, leader of France's far-right National Front party, took to the streets on May Day Wednesday as part of the day's celebrations in images captured by iReporter Batareykin.

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May Day protests around the world21 photos

May Day protests around the world – A police officer and demonstrator clash during May Day demonstrations in Seattle on Wednesday, May 1. A peaceful protest turned violent, and police say they sprayed demonstrators with pepper spray after they threw everything from metal pipes to fireworks at officers. Hundreds of thousands of people across the globe take to the streets on May 1 to demand better working conditions during what is known as International Workers' Day.

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In pictures: May Day protests around the world – iReporter TTeixeira captured this image from a May Day protest in Porto, Portugal. "People protested with great order, but showed discontent against the government who they blame for this economic crisis," she said. "They want the government to resign and the Troika out of this country."

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May Day protests around the world – Tens of thousands of workers and labor activists march through the central business district in Jakarta, Indonesia.

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In pictures: May Day protests around the world – Photographer Michael Kandel was out at the May Day protest in Washington yesterday evening when protesters veered off the marching path and stormed a GAP store. Police intervened to secure the entrance and a skirmish broke out, according to CNN.

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May Day protests around the world – Demonstrators in Madrid take part in a Labor Day protest against the Spanish government's austerity policies.

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May Day protests around the world – Indonesian workers wearing ant costumes to depict the exploitation of workers participate in a march to the presidential palace in Jakarta.

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May Day protests around the world – In Taipei, Taiwan, more than 20,000 workers staged a protest against President Ma Ying-jeou's pension reforms.

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May Day protests around the world – Police prepare behind a line of barbed wire before thousands of Indonesian workers arrive outside the presidential palace in Jakarta.

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May Day protests around the world – Members and sympathizers of the Hungarian communist party, the "Munkaspart," march in Budapest.

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May Day protests around the world – A protestor holds an oversized mask of billionaire tycoon Li Ka-shing, the chairman of Hutchison Whampoa, as hundreds of dock workers protest pay and working conditions in Hong Kong.

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May Day protests around the world – People march in a May Day demonstration Athens.

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May Day protests around the world – Participants raise their fists during a demonstration in Athens.

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In pictures: May Day protests around the world – A May Day protestor uses catapults during clashes in Istanbul.

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May Day protests around the world – Supporters of the nationalist party Red and Black march in Tirana, Albania, demand the resignation of Premier Sali Berisha.

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May Day protests around the world – An elderly activist attends a traditional May Day Communist rally in Moscow.

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In pictures: May Day protests around the world – Government employees protest for better pay and job security in Srinagar, India.

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May Day protests around the world – Demonstrators march against the Spanish government's austerity policies in Barcelona.

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May Day protests around the world – A Cambodian worker stands on a vehicle as he attends a May Day protest in Phnom Penh.

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May Day protests around the world – Indian members of the All India Trade Union Congress take part in a rally in Hyderabad.

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May Day protests around the world – Russian communist party activists carry red flags and banners during their traditional May Day rally in Moscow.

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Story highlights

Greek journalist told CNN that Labor Day protests in Athens were relatively muted this year

Istanbul on citywide shut down. Riot police gassed and fired water cannons at dozens of demonstrators

Spain and Italy -- two countries blighted by the eurozone debt crisis -- have seen street protests

As European financial markets close for the spring celebration of May Day, protesters across Europe and beyond have taken to the streets to demonstrate for workers' rights and, in many cases, against painful austerity measures.

In Istanbul, Turkey, riot police gassed and fired water cannons at dozens of demonstrators trying to get to the popular-tourist destination of Taksim Square for May 1 demonstrations.

Groups carrying May 1 international Workers' Day banners and chanting "Longlive Workers' Day" while trying to the square were dispersed using water cannons and tear gas in Istanbul's Besiktas district.

Istanbul is now on a citywide shut down. Traffic has been restricted and public transportation to the square has been suspended including subways, metrobuses as well as ferry services that connect the city's European side to the Asian side.

"We are expecting a problematic May 1," said Istanbul Governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu told broadcaster CNNTurk. "It would have been easy to solve this," he said.

"There is a sense of resignation among Greeks, she told CNN."What we're hearing now is some 45,000 protesters have assembled in the city center to protest against austerity, and against tax hikes and all the policies that have been continued by Prime Minister Samaras and his team."

Savaricas told CNN that the government is simply following the demands of the troika -- a group of international creditors made up of the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission and the European Central Bank -- which have led the debt-ridden nation's economy into the "abyss."

Greece has a debt to GDP level of 156% while government debt stands at a staggering 304 billion euros. The country -- one of four eurozone countries to request a sovereign bailout -- is also grappling with unemployment of over 27%, the highest in the single currency area, according to Eurostat, the Commission's data service.

Savaricas said many of her friends have fled abroad in search of a brighter future: "What they're telling me is that the Greeks are very much seen with contempt and the opportunities abroad are not that great because Europe is also suffering."

Francisco Carrizo, 37, a Venezuelan teacher from Madrid, told CNN that people in Spain don't feel like celebrating May Day because unemployment is so high and the "government should be ashamed."

In 2007, before the global economic crisis hit, Spain had 1.9 million people unemployed -- 8.6% of the active population. That figure has now risen to 6.2 million.

Figures from Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Spain's national statistics office, showed unemployment among 16 to 24 year-olds is at 57.2%. Joblessness is higher among women than men.

Carizzo told CNN: "I feel kind of bad because in my case I have two jobs. It's the sort of thing I don't usually tell people. I feel sad, let down and I have mixed feelings about it." He added: "There are people who are having a really hard time."

High unemployment and cuts to the public sector are being felt in Italy too. Unemployment reached 11% in March, while the country remained in political deadlock since the elections in February failed to yield a government.

May Day protests have reportedly taken place in Rome as well as Bologna and Parma in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy.

Martina Lunardelli, 28, interpreter, Pordenone, northern Italy, told CNN that she feels "ashamed" of all the political and economic turmoil that has dogged the eurozone third-largest economy since the debt crisis began in 2010.

"I am trying to flee from here," she told CNN. "I have lost all the residual faith I had in what should be my home country."